Boston Marathon raises record $38 million for charity

BOSTON — Participants running the 118th Boston Marathon raised $38.4 million for charity, nearly double the record $20 million raised in 2013.

In this year’s race on April 21, with an expanded field size of 36,000 registered runners, more than 300 organizations received donations in support of their missions. Most of the fundraising runners gained entry through the Boston Athletic Association’s Official Charity Program and John Hancock’s Marathon Non-Profit Program.

In addition, many qualified runners, along with deferred runners who did not finish the 2013 Marathon, contributed by raising money for charity. The B.A.A. also gave money to the One Fund Boston, the Martin W. Richard Charitable Foundation, local hospitals, and many other organizations and individuals who were touched by the bombing at last year’s race.

Included among the charitable organizations benefiting from the B.A.A.’s Official Charity Program in 2014 is the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which marked its 25th year of fundraising with the B.A.A. for the Boston Marathon.

In the 2014 race, funds raised by John Hancock-sponsored runners amounted to slightly over $10 million, a 27 percent increase over the $7.9 million total raised in 2013.

Among the 125 non-profit organizations participating in the Hancock program were Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston Medical Center, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Hoyt Foundation Inc., Horizons for Homeless Children, and Bottom Line.